The Detergents “Leader of the Laundromat” / “Ulcers”

Missed out on this parody of the Shangri-Las “Leader of the Pack” when it might have played on the kitchen radio (WLEC Sandusky) or on a variety show on the B&W TV with the roundish screen—it was 1964, so I suppose I was more focused on which dog stole my stuffed chipmunk. Though I probably would have “got it” had I heard it—and if not, my mom would have spelled it out. I don’t generally care for comedy records, especially ones that depend on knowing the immediate cultural reference—“Leader of the Pack” was already kind of a novelty record, but it’s cool, and it’s endured. I’m guessing I picked this up off of whatever junk heap it had landed in because the Roulette label catches your eye—and then, never having heard of it, I momentarily imagined “Leader of the Laundromat” could be something weird. Laundromats are in themselves kind of odd and funny, and like breakfast and outhouses, seldom the subject of pop songs—so it gets my attention when they are. The Detergents sounds like the punk band that wasn’t (or, probably was, somewhere). Well, sadly, it isn’t (weird, that is), but instead, over-extended comedy, and they’re trying hard, really hard, really really hard. But it plays, even though it looks like someone spilled a Coke or battery acid on it. Oddly, the former owner crossed out, with a pen, every single bit of text on the B-side, “Ulcers.” Possibly they were suffering from them—or who knows. The song is an un-original rock-n-roll instrumental with a nice guitar sound and honky-tonked to death piano—it sounds exactly like a short, B-side, instrumental called “Ulcers” would sound (in a fictional world) (which, I suppose, is not really any different than “reality”).

6.21.24